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Mark Maloney Scammed!

Thanks to Bajan Citizen for producing relevant links to the latest story making the rounds about Mark Maloney being scammed out of US10 million dollars purported to be a payment for 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on behalf of Barbados and two other governments. The blogmaster has two questions: On what basis was…

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Thanks to Bajan Citizen for producing relevant links to the latest story making the rounds about Mark Maloney being scammed out of US10 million dollars purported to be a payment for 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on behalf of Barbados and two other governments.

The blogmaster has two questions:

  1. On what basis was Maloney’s company Radical Investments Ltd selected to broker this transaction.
  2. Is the government out of pocket because of the errant transaction.
  3. How does being out of pocket USD6.7 million affect Maloney’s financial state to continue to do business.

Mark Maloney Says $12M COVID Vaccine Deal Was A Scam
https://www.law360.com/commercialcontracts/articles/1422923/barbados-co-says-12m-covid-vaccine-deal-was-a-scam

The case is Radical Investments Ltd. v. Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC et al., case number 9:21-cv-81761, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Radical Investments Ltd. is a St Lucia registered company owned by Mark Maloney. 

He appears to have been swindled out of $6.7 millon USD from the governments of St Lucia, the Bahamas and Barbados who contributed money to buy COVID vaccines for their citizens.

“In April 2021, the Governments of Saint Lucia, The Bahamas and Barbados initiated a bulk purchase of AstraZeneca vaccines, as the minimum purchase from authorized suppliers was one million (1,000,000) vaccines.”
http://www.govt.lc/news/saint-lucia-s-efforts-to-secure-high-demand-covid-19-vaccines.

St Lucia contributed $7.3 million EC
https://www.caribbeannewsglobal.com/approval-of-direct-purchase-for-astrazeneca-radical-investments-ltd/

Mark Maloney is deputy chair of the private sector group put together last March to fundraise and acquire more vaccines.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/03/high-powered-group-ready-to-assist-with-vaccine-financing/

It is not clear what due dilligence Mr Maloney did before entering into this commercial arrangement with Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC. If you were looking to purchase pharmaceuticals would you do business with a company whith a name that connotes mechanical sexual services, and with an address at 21218 St Andrews Blvd Suite 318 that is a mailbox in a UPS store where 175 other fly by night companies also have their “headquarters”???
http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=CurrentList&searchNameOrder=GOODVIBRATIONSENTERTAINMENT%20L210002390860&aggregateId=flal-l21000239086-b92f38d8-b344-45fc-b36d-1320f1675828&searchTerm=GOOD%20VIBRATIONS%20AUDIO%2C%20LLC&listNameOrder=GOODVIBRATIONSAUDIO%20L190000122850

1,260 responses to “Mark Maloney Scammed!”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Radical Investments denies allegations
    Maloney’s lawyers: A conspiracy to defraud . . .
    Radical Investments Ltd. (RIL) has denied “each and every” allegation made by Good Vibrations Entertainment (GVE) in its counter lawsuit filed.
    Calling the US$10 million failed COVID-19 vaccine scheme a fiction, the US attorneys for Barbadian businessman, Mark Maloney, have rejected GVE’s attempt to claim damages for breach of contract telling the court that its chief executive officer, Alex Moore, should not benefit from its own wrongdoing.
    In its counter-claim the attorneys stated: “As its First Affirmative Defense, RIL asserts that GVE is barred from recovering damages via its counterclaim because GVE has unclean hands, committed numerous torts against RIL, and has acted as a co-conspirator in a scheme to defrauded RIL out of millions of dollars. What is more, GVE and its principal, co-defendant Alex Lee Moore, were the masterminds of a conspiracy to defraud RIL.”
    They claimed that GVE and Moore “fabricated the AstraZeneca invoice to fraudulently induce RIL to continue with the transaction and also repeatedly assured RIL throughout the transaction that they would procure the COVID-19 vaccines.
    “Unfortunately, the entire COVID vaccine transaction scheme was a fiction. There was never a genuine invoice to purchase vaccines from AstraZeneca. Accordingly, GVE should not benefit from its own wrongdoing.”
    The attorneys also told the US Federal Court that GVE “is barred from proceeding in this action because they have failed to state a cause of action. More specifically, GVE has failed to state plausible or sufficient causes of action and provides implausible conclusions for what is apparently an attempt to plead breach of contract and tortious interference claims”.
    They further asserted that “GVE has failed to satisfy conditions precedent to bringing this action” such as what was expressly stipulated in the purchase and sale agreement dated April 16, 2021, which
    required GVE to provide an invoice from AstraZeneca within 24 hours of the funds being deposited in the Escrow Account, as they charged that the invoice provided was a forgery.
    The attorneys further affirmed that GVE “is stopped from asserting what appears to be claims for breach of contract or tortious interference. GVE fabricated the AstraZeneca invoice to fraudulently induce RIL to continue with the transaction”.
    They charged: “Unfortunately, the entire COVID vaccine transaction scheme was a fiction fabricated by GVE and its co-conspirators. GVE never possessed a genuine invoice to purchase vaccines from AstraZeneca, nor the vaccines from AstraZeneca which it contracted to procure for RIL benefit.”
    Continuing, they wrote that “GVE’s complaint must fail because of the doctrine of anticipatory repudiation. GVE among other wrongful acts, fabricated and delivered to RIL, a fabricated AstraZeneca invoice. RIL relied upon the same to its detriment. GVE repudiate the agreement upon delivery and RIL’s discovery that the AstraZeneca invoice was a forgery.”
    RIL’s counterclaim was sent to the court following Moore’s filing a counter lawsuit against RIL claiming breach of contract.
    Moore has asked the court to dismiss the complaint against them; that GVE be awarded judgement against RIL for its lost profits and expenses and they have also demanded a jury hearing in the matter. (MB)

    Source: Nation

  2. David Avatar
    David

    LAWSUIT TWIST

    Florida company countersuing Maloney over US$10m vaccine contract
    In a twist, the man at the centre of the failed delivery of US$10.2 million in AstraZeneca vaccines to Barbados has denied any claim of fraud and is countersuing Barbadian businessman Mark Maloney and his Radical Investments Ltd. (RIL).
    Alex Moore, the chief executive officer of the company Good Vibrations Entertainment (GVE), which Maloney contracted last year to procure the vaccines for Barbados and St Lucia, has charged that Maloney breached the contract by terminating it after discovering vaccines cheaper than the US$10 per dose charged by GVE.
    Moore further charged that Maloney did this to pocket the profits and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and award GVE judgement for its lost profits and expenses.
    The case is being heard by a United States Federal Court.
    Deny allegations
    However, the US attorneys for Maloney filed a counterclaim denying all of Moore’s allegations as “GVE has unclean hands, committed numerous torts against RIL, and has acted as a co-conspirator in a scheme to defraud RIL out of millions of dollars”.
    Moore, who denied the majority of the pleadings filed by Maloney in his amended lawsuit wrote to the court stating: “Now assuming the role of counter plaintiff, Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC sues RIL and avers and alleges as follows: that after the execution of the contract RIL discovered that the pricing through intermediaries that was being paid through GVE was substantially less than what RIL had agreed to pay GVE. More particularly, GVE was able to obtain the AstraZeneca vaccine for substantially less than US$10 per dose. As a result, RIL realised it had effectively paid substantially more than that which it might have been able to obtain the vaccine assuming that it was available to RIL.
    “After execution of the agreement, and after the orders were placed, RIL discovered that AstraZeneca had agreed to provide dosing through Covax in perpetuity at the rate between $3 and $4 per dose to low and middle income countries which would have also included Barbados and RIL’s other client. The Government of Barbados ultimately discovered this as well.
    He added: “In effect, RIL had made a bad investment and rather than making whatever the price differential was between the $12 per dose (including commission) and RIL’s agreement with the governments that it had apparently overcharged, it sought to cancel the agreement and reap the benefit of the price differential between the roughly $3 to $4 per dose that GVE and its intermediaries would have paid and that which they had paid for the dosing, yielding a profit to RIL of an additional $6 to $7 million.”
    Moore claimed that RIL breached the agreement by cancelling it and attempting to go behind the back of GVE and its intermediaries; that RIL interfered with GVE and its intermediaries in an effort not to help the citizens of Barbados but in an effort to extract the profit for itself.
    Lower price
    “Upon information and belief, the governments purportedly represented by RIL have found their vaccines elsewhere at substantially lower prices than quoted by RIL to provide the dosing. They have demanded the return of the funds. Such was done after RIL had cancelled the agreement and attempted to go directly to the manufacturer to obtain the vaccines, something that it was not entitled to do as it was not in the approved vendor chain, and after GVE expended sums of monies to intermediaries and for transportation of the vaccines.”
    Continuing, he claimed that RIL’s predicament was of its own making as, had it not wrongfully cancelled the contract, GVE would have realised a profit well in excess of the funds demanded by RIL.
    Moore also gave notice that his company was suing RIL for the profits lost as a result of the wrongful cancellation and all expenses it has incurred to fulfil its obligations.
    In relation to RIL’s lawsuit against Moniladai Coley and her company Prestige Investments, Moore said that to the extent that RIL was in anyway defrauded or the victim of unfair and deceptive actions on the part of Coley or Radical, that each was also the victim of the very same actions and that he was entitled to recover an equal amount from Prestige and Coley.
    In relation to the amended lawsuit in which he stands as a defendant, Moore suggested that Maloney had sued the wrong GVE company.
    “GVE/Moore admit there is a Florida LLC with the same name and under the same control as the entity involved in the transactions which are the subject of this litigation. However, the agreement was entered into in April 2021 and that GVE is an Ohio Limited Liability Company that had its principal place of business in Newport Beach, California.
    “GVE/Moore deny that at the time of the agreement the Florida LLC was even in existence or that Moore resided in Florida.”

    Source: Nation

  3. David Avatar
    David

    Court victory for Maloney
    BARBADIAN BUSINESSMAN Mark Maloney has scored a victory against one of the defendants who he claimed defrauded his company Radical Investments Ltd (RIL) of millions of dollars paid for COVID-19 vaccines.
    On February 16, judge Aileen Cannon, sitting in the United States District Court of Southern Florida where the civil case is being heard, granted a default judgement against defendant Moniladai Coley and her company Prestige Pegasus, for US$2 million, the exact amount they received from the US$10.2 million which Maloney paid to Alex Moore of Good Vibrations Ltd to provide the vaccines. A default judgement can be issued when a defendant fails to respond to a summons or fails to appear before the court.
    Coley, who goes by the name ‘Millionaire Babe’ on her social media pages, and is owner of the company Prestige Pegasus, was introduced to Maloney by Moore, and represented as an intermediary with the capacity to procure and deliver the vaccines. She was supposed to act as the liaison with respect to obtaining the vaccines for RIL from AstraZeneca.
    $2 million
    The judge stated: “Plaintiff Radical Investments Ltd, a St Lucia company, with its current address of 20 Micoud Street, Castries, St Lucia, shall have and recover from defendants Prestige Pegasus LLC, a Colorado limited liability company, domiciled at 7182 Edgewood Drive, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130 and its principal, defendant Moniladae D. Coley, aka Moniladai D. Coley, individually and as principal of Prestige Pegasus LLC, currently domiciled at 6625 Reseda Blvd, Reseda, CA 91335, jointly and severally, the sum certain of $2 million for let execution issue forthwith.
    “Post-judgment interest shall accrue at the current legal rate allowed under 28 USC. § 1961 as of the date of this final default judgment until this judgment is satisfied.”
    In their application for the default judgement, the US attorneys representing Maloney charged that Coley controlled, operated and managed Prestige, and that she was its sole principal.
    They said the company “was a mere instrumentality of Coley, and was used by Coley to conduct her illicit and fraudulent dealings. As plead, there does not appear to be any other business function of Prestige Pegasus LLC other than to commit this fraud”. The lawyers further told the court that “Coley repeatedly lied, misrepresented and defrauded the plaintiff into believing that defendants could obtain these vaccines and to not to cancel the transaction, which ultimately cost plaintiff nearly $7 million, $2 million of which was retained by Coley via Prestige”.
    Referring to Maloney’s complaint and exhibits, the attorney added: “Coley has publicly flaunted her new-found wealth on social media, purchasing Rolls Royce vehicles, designer shoes and handbags, multiple diamond-encrusted Rolex watches, and other luxury items that did not appear on her social media pages prior to these events.
    “Undoubtedly, Coley has enormously benefited from the funds which were transmitted to Prestige, which further demonstrates that Prestige was merely a sham that Coley hoped would shield her from liability stemming from her ill-gotten gains.” ( MB)


    Source: Nation

  4. David Avatar
    David

    Radical case set for next March

    The case involving the failed delivery of the US$10 million COVID-19 vaccines to Barbados and St Lucia will be heard in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida next March.
    Judge Aileen Cannon, who for the past several months during a pretrial motion heard claims and counter claims from plaintiff Radical Investments, a company owned by prominent Barbadian businessman Mark Maloney, and defendant Good Vibrations Ltd. a US company owned by Alex Moore, set a jury trial for March 13, 2023.
    The judge also notified both parties of a strict calendar of events which must be adhered to beginning from April 29, 2022, through to February 2023.
    Maloney filed a lawsuit claiming that he was lured into an elaborate US$10. 2 million scam when he tried to procure one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for Barbados and St Lucia through the US-based Good Vibrations Ltd.
    In the motion, Maloney
    outlined how he was introduced to Moore in March 2021 as someone who had the ability to secure the vaccines.
    The price was set at US$10.2 million. A commission of $2 million was to be paid to Good Vibrations upon delivery of the drugs to Radical Investments.
    Around April 27, 2021, Radical Investments released the US$10.2 million based on assurances received from Moore’s attorney but the vaccines were never received. Radical Investments managed to get back about US$5.4 million of its initial deposit, leaving approximately US$6.7 million in arrears.
    So far Radical Investments has been awarded a US$2 million default judgement against defendant Moniladai Coley and her company Prestige Pegasus, who was supposed to act as the intermediary for securing the vaccines.
    Maloney has never spoken publicly about the matter but Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley assured Barbadians that even though Government was aware of the plans to secure the vaccines, it never advanced any money. (MB)

    Source: Nation

  5. David Avatar
    David

    RIL claims defendants divided money
    By Maria Bradshaw mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    Radical Investments Ltd (RIL) contends that it was defrauded by defendants who put their own “pecuniary interests ahead of the welfare and health of the citizens of Barbados”.
    In its second amended complaint filed in a United States court which is hearing the civil lawsuit involving the non-delivery of a million doses of vaccines to Barbados, RIL charged that the US$10.2 million, the purchase price of the vaccines, was to be paid directly to AstraZeneca, the manufacturers. However, RIL claimed that instead some of the money was distributed among the defendants contrary to the terms and conditions of the agreement.
    RIL, a St Lucia-registered company, is owned by prominent Barbadian businessman Mark Maloney, who was contracted by the Barbados Government to source and purchase the vaccines on behalf of Barbados.
    Six defendants
    Maloney is suing six defendants including Alex Moore of Good Vibrations Ltd. (GVE) – who was supposed to obtain the vaccines – for allegedly defrauding it out of the monies.
    In the complaint, Maloney outlined how he was introduced to Moore in March of 2021 by Cheryl Chamley, who resides in Florida and works in the PPE sector.
    A few weeks after that meeting, Maloney provided Moore with a sale and purchase agreement and an escrow agreement to US attorney David Stein who was named as the paymaster.
    The documents note that “the purchase price for the vaccines was to be $10.2 million”.
    •
    A commission of $2 million would be payable to GVE upon delivery of the vaccines to RIL in Barbados.
    •
    Upon execution of the Purchase Agreement, RIL was to deposit the $12.2 million into an escrow/IOLTA account.
    •
    Moore was to provide an invoice from AstraZeneca for the one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, together with the information for the AstraZeneca account into which the purchase price of $10.2 million was to be paid.
    •
    Upon receipt of the
    AstraZeneca account information, RIL would authorise the release of the $10.2 million to AstraZeneca. Thereafter, within 24 hours of the release of funds to AstraZeneca, RIL was to receive the vaccines within seven days.
    • $2 million commission to GVE was to be paid only upon the issuance of a bill of lading from AstraZeneca to RIL.
    However, RIL stated that immediately after the execution of the purchase agreement, it unsuccessfully sought to obtain the invoice from AstraZeneca from Moore and that Moore supplied a heavily redacted AstraZeneca invoice which did not contain the information required pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement.
    On or about April 27, 2021, RIL provided amended instructions to pay defendant, Prestige Pegasus LLC which was owned by defendant Monilidae Coley, the $10.2 million. However that too was not complied with.
    RIL told the court: “In complete violation of the Escrow agreement and amended instructions, Stein wrongfully dispersed following payments via wire transfer listed below out of the IOLTA account:
    • April 27, 2021: $2 million to Prestige.
    •
    April 27, 2021: $2.2 million to GVE.
    • April 27, 2021: $40 000 to Stein’s personal bank account
    •
    May 3, 2021: $2 million
    to GVE.
    • May 3, 2021: $485 000 to RDS, a foreign freight company based out of the United Arab Emirates, charged with handling the delivery of the vaccines.
    “Needless to say, plaintiff RIL was deceptively lured into an elaborate scam to advance the sum of 12.2 million US dollars for one million non-existent doses of AstraZeneca vaccine,” RIL pleaded in its complaint adding that: “Contrary to the terms of the Escrow Agreement and without RIL’s consent, Stein continued to conceal that he had wrongfully wired $2 million to GVE and only $2 million to Prestige.”
    In the complaint RIL further questioned the relationship between Moore and Stein stating that Stein overstepped his role as paymaster and allegedly provided Moore with legal advice in the matter which was outside his scope as paymaster.
    ‘Swindled of $6.7m’ The complaint noted that: “Moore has used GVE . . . to misrepresent, defraud,
    and ultimately swindle plaintiff out of nearly $6.7 million. Moore used GVE for a wrongful and/ or inequitable purpose, namely the aforementioned fraud and inducement of Plaintiff to deposit $12.2 million into an escrow account. The only purpose of GVE with respect to this transaction was to perpetuate an illegal scheme and defraud plaintiff in its hope to obtain life-saving vaccines for the nation of Barbados. Moore himself, via GVE, has been unjustly enriched to the tune of $4.2 million via his illicit and tortious conduct . . .”
    The complaint added: “Defendants conspired with one another, as well as other individuals and entities to perpetrate an unlawful act upon Plaintiff, or to perpetrate a lawful act by unlawful means, to wit: Defendants conspired with one another in order through fraudulent means to induce plaintiff to deposit a large sum of funds into an escrow account in order to obtain lifesaving vaccines for the nearly 300 000 citizens of Barbados, despite defendants having no intention or ability to procure or deliver those vaccines. Defendants, at all times material, acted in concert to continue along with the charade that they could in fact source and deliver vaccines to Barbados, in order to induce plaintiff to not seek a return of its funds, which unbeknownst to Plaintiff, had been grossly misappropriated.”
    The case which is being heard in the United States District Court Central District of California, continues with a motion brought by defendants James L. Scott and Warner, Norcross, + JUDD LLP (“WNJ”), a Michigan limited liability partnership, against being added to the lawsuit and a motion brought by David Stein and Davidoch Stein law firm seeking summary judgment against RIL for being included in the lawsuit.

    Source: Nation

  6. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    My boy was not mentioned.
    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/30/top-honour-for-three/
    “Gurdip Bath: For arranging the logistics and facilitating the transportation of 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from India to Barbados, in February 2021. Thus, allowing us to commence our vaccination programme against COVID-19.”

    My boy …
    https://barbadosunderground.net/2021/09/22/mark-maloney-scammed/

  7. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Is bizarre the correct word? There is something farcical in the stories as reported. It is almost as if a playwright got hold of a bad script and decided to put as many plots and twists in the story as he/she possibly can.

    The backbone is the reality of life in Barbados, but the subplots of cronyism, favoritism nepotism and scams are always being played out for all to see. Heroes and antiheroes abound.

  8. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ TheOGazerts,

    https://radicalcaribbeancup.com/

  9. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Ian St. Clair Carrington, Director of Finance and a top economic advisor has been awarded for his distinguished career in the public service and exceptional leadership of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme. The certified general accountant is also a former Director of the National Insurance Scheme.
    +++++++++++
    Don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but as an individual who has been honoured for “his distinguished career in the public service” and is a former Director of the National Insurance Scheme, did he at any time make any statements about the long-term feasibility of the NIS as it was constituted?

  10. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    IMPORTANT INFORMATION

    ” The top brass of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) is assuring Barbadians they will have enough pork this Christmas.”

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